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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2007)
Page 16 The INDEPENDENT, February 15, 2007 Town Hall on the Cost of War for Congressman Wu on February 19 The 1st Congressional Dis- trict Town Hall on the Cost of War for Congressman Wu will be held Monday, February 19, at 6:00 p.m. at Pacific Universi- ty’s Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall, 2043 University Way, For- est Grove. The town hall is be- ing hosted by the Rural Orga- nizing Project. The United States is at a crit- ical deciding point in the future of the war in Iraq. Decision makers in Washington, D.C., are currently debating multiple proposals ranging from troop escalation to a timetable for im- mediate withdrawal. A supple- mental appropriations vote for funding in Iraq is expected in Congress later this month. This vote will test the impact of the recent 2006 elections on deci- sions relating to the war. Congress will also decide in this session whether to reau- thorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act, legislation that relies on timber receipts and federal lands compensa- tions to fund approximately 4,400 school districts in 615 counties in 39 states. Constituents in Oregon’s 1st Congressional District repre- sented by David Wu are not waiting for the decisions to come to them. They are hosting their own town hall on February 19th in Forest Grove, Oregon to discuss these issues. The town hall will include delega- tions from the five counties in the 1st Congressional District. Columbia County resident Craig Frasier will be testifying to the local cost of war in Co- lumbia County at the 1st Con- gressional District Town Hall on the Cost of War. “As I look around our community and talk with our elected officials and social services providers,” Frasier said, “I am over- whelmed by the needs that are going unmet in our county. Meanwhile, Columbia County’s share of the financial cost of war in Iraq is over $40 million. That amount could have paid for 4-year college scholarships for 1,937 students here at home.” Testimony from constituents to Congressman Wu will high- light the existing human needs of the 1st District that are cur- rently going unmet as a result of federal funding priorities and spending on the war. The 1st District’s tab for the war in Iraq is $602,513,729, the equivalent of 60 new elementary schools or 3,152 affordable housing units or healthcare for 80,057 children since the start of the Iraq war. Rural America is also home to a disproportionate number of soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq. The New York Times reported in July, 2005, that nearly two-thirds of the sol- diers who have died in Iraq came from rural, less densely populated counties. Rural Ore- gon is paying a high price for this war, both in terms of hu- man costs and lost investment in economies and human serv- ices. In addition to the Rural Or- ganizing Project (ROP) the Town Hall is being hosted by the following local human digni- ty groups: West County Coun- cil for Human Dignity, Yamhill Valley PeaceMakers, Columbia Pacific Alliance for Social Jus- tice, Adelante Mujares and Co- lumbia County Citizens for Hu- man Dignity. ROP and member groups around the state are holding similar Town Halls in other districts around the state during the February Congres- sional Recess. For more information contact Marcy Westerling at 503-543- 8417. CCRCC holds LIncoln Day Dinner “Remembering our Roots” is the theme for the annual Lin- coln Day Dinner and fundraiser sponsored by the Columbia County Republican Central Committee. Special guest will be recent Republican candi- date for Congress, Derrick Kitts. The dinner will be held on Saturday, February 24, at the Moose Lodge Family Center, 56870 Old Portland Road in Warren. A social hour and silent auc- tion will start at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 p.m. The evening will be topped off by speaker Kitts at 7:30 p.m., fol- lowed by an oral auction. Twenty percent of the silent auction proceeds will be donat- ed to the Columbia Pregnancy Center. Donations are still be- ing accepted for the silent auc- tion. Cost for the evening is $20.00 per person. Tickets are available in advance at Pacific Industrial Service, 1800 Rail- road Avenue, St. Helens, or by calling Chair Fred Yauney at 503-543-6271. Reservations are strongly suggested to allow for an accurate meal count. Columbia County Republi- cans informal Meet Up gather- ing will be on Friday, February 23, at Mr. Joe’s Coffee Cafe, 555 Columbia River Hwy, St. Helens at 7:00 p.m. All county Republicans are invited to par- ticipate in a discussion of cur- rent issues of interest to those present. Senator Wyden’s Health Americans Act would expand insurance In January, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced legislation that would give every American the same kind of coverage that Members of Congress receive, for the same amount being spent on health care today. Under Wyden’s bill, called the Healthy Americans Act (HAA), all Americans – includ- ing 46 million uninsured – would be covered by health care insurance for no more than is spent today. The legisla- tion includes cost containment and according to the influential Lewin Group*, actually saves $1.45 trillion over the next decade. Wyden commended states that have put forth their own proposals, but said that only the federal government could clean up the federal tax code, which “has led to a skewed sys- tem in which a CEO can write off a designer smile but the lo- cal hardware store gets noth- ing.” “I believe there is no possi- ble way the states can fix health care,” Wyden said, “be- cause the states did not create Save Time and Money Shop Local S UPPORT THE ADVERTISERS WHO KEEP YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER FREE the major problems in Ameri- can health care. Who did? The federal government, the big spender of health dollars in America, the architect of the policies now driving American health care toward implosion.” The Healthy Americans Act includes: • Guarantees of private health care coverage that can- not be taken away; • benefits for all Americans equal to those of Members of Congress; • incentives for individuals and insurers to focus on pre- vention, wellness and disease management; • financing by more wisely spending the $2.2 trillion cur- rently spent on health care in America. Wyden’s goal of universal health coverage for all Ameri- cans is supported by a diverse coalition of labor and business, including Andy Stern, President of SEIU, a 1.8 million-member labor group; Steve Burd, Chair- man, President and CEO of Safeway; Ron Pollack, from Families USA, a leader on health care for the low-income; Mike Roach, a small business owner from Oregon and 30- year member of the National Federation of Independent Businesses; CEO Bob Beal, owner of a medium-size Ore- gon business; Malene Davis, President and CEO of Capital Hospice; Don Schumacher, Ex- ecutive Director of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Or- ganization; and Pat Maryland, Chairperson of Citizens’ Health Care Working Group. “From the very first day un- der the Healthy Americans Act, individuals, families and busi- nesses win,” Wyden said. “Indi- viduals get more money in their paycheck, and if they can find lower cost insurance, they have some extra money…with health premiums going up 11 percent this year, employers are glad to be exempt from these increas- es.” According to Sen. Wyden, the Act cuts the link between health insurance and employ- ment. Under HAA, businesses paying for employee health in- surance premiums are required to increase their workers’ pay- checks by the amount they spent last year on their health coverage. Federal tax law will change to hold the worker harmless for the extra compen- sation and the worker is re- quired to purchase coverage through an exchange in their state. Insurance companies are required to offer simplified, standardized coverage – like a Member of Congress gets – and are prohibited from engag- ing in price discrimination. The Act includes subsidies for those who could not otherwise pur- chase private coverage. The Healthy Americans Act also focuses on preventive health care. “Americans really don’t have health care at all,” Wyden said. “They have sick care. We are going to change that by giving seniors incentives to stay healthy, rewarding parents who enroll their youngsters in well- ness programs and pushing private insurers to put a new emphasis on prevention and wellness in the plans they of- fer.” For more information on the Healthy Americans Act, go to http://wyden.senate.gov. *The Lewin Group is a health care and human services consult- ing firm that works with govern- ment, industry, foundations, and non-profit organizations.